1. Field
The present invention relates generally to data networking. More specifically, the present invention relates to prioritizing data packets in a data network system according to an identifier associated with the data packet.
2. Background
Quality of Service (QoS) in computer networking commonly refers to the ability for a data network to provide a certain level of performance to a data flow. The level of performance may be measured by technical metrics, such as delay, data packet loss, and jitter. QoS provisions are important if a data network's capacities are insufficient, especially for time-sensitive applications (e.g., voice over IP or real-time streaming of multimedia) and in networks where capacity is a limited resource (e.g., in cellular data communication). As such, QoS is an important factor in ensuring that appropriate network resources are allocated to these applications.
QoS becomes more complicated when a precedence of a message is coupled with QoS technical requirements. A precedence may refer to a preferential treatment of a message over other messages in the data network. For example, a message relating to an emergency situation may be treated with preferential treatment by the data network (e.g., the message is given a top priority status to data network resources) and propagated through the network more rapidly than a message without such priority. In the instance that the data network is faced with a high volume of both high-priority data and low-priority, time-sensitive data, the network faces a difficult challenge in balancing precedence and QoS to ensure that appropriate network resources are allocated to this data traffic. Moreover, as the granularity of precedence and QoS requirements decreases, the efficiency and effectiveness of the data network decreases as well.
Accordingly, what is desired is a method to propagate data across a network that provides precedence to prioritized data while accommodating for QoS technical requirements.